Samsung EX2F review - Is F1.4 and WiFi enough?

In the compact camera market manufacturers will go a long way to make their product stand out: Carl Zeiss or Leica lenses for instance offer a certain cachet. The Samsung EX2F has several features that make you want to look closer; it has a Schneider Kreuznach lens, with an f1.4 aperture. It has built in WiFi to help you share or back-up your pictures and it is housed in a chassis of magnesium alloy. Are these things enough in this very tough market sector?

Samsung’s EX2F is a compact camera that replaces their previous EX1 model. The 12 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor gives the EX2F an extra 8 points in the DxO Mark score, 48 against the previous 40.

The EX2F is a sturdy but light camera with a magnesium alloy chassis, it is fitted with a Schneider Kreuznach 5.2mm – 17.2mm lens (equivalent to 24-80mm in full frame 35mm). Schneider, if you are unfamiliar with them, are a German lens manufacturer known especially in the professional market for their large format lenses. Optically this lens has 11 elements arranged in 9 groups, 4 elements are aspheric and 2 are made of high refractive index glass. The lens boasts an impressive f/1.4 aperture, this is for the wide angle end of the scale and makes it one of the fastest lenses in its class. The maximum aperture drops to f2.7 at the telephoto end of the range. To allow users to utilize the shallow depth of field that such a lens creates a neutral density filter is built in for when the light levels are higher.

The range of features is fairly standard, the only special features being that the image stabilization utilizes both optical and digital techniques (Described as Dual IS) and that there is a fairly comprehensive WiFi system which allows for backing up, sharing, remote control and remote viewing (via an app on a smartphone – Android or iOS). The ISO Range is between 80 and 3200 but can be extended a further two stops up to 12800 ISO if required. As one would expect it will shoot full HD video and captures 12mpix stills at the same time.

Further readings for the Samsung EX2F review - Is F1.4 and WiFi enough?

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

The Samsung EX2F is a successor to the company's EX1 (known as the TL500 in some markets). Its name is now the same across all markets, and gains the 'F' that Samsung uses to denote its Wi-Fi capable cameras. It sees a 12MP BSI CMOS sensor supplanting the 10MP CCD that was used in its predecessor, and beyond these changes carries forward that camera's impressive specifications. Its lens starts off both wide and impressively bright (the 24mm equivalent, F1.4 figure being used extensively in the marketing material) but slows down soon after, meaning it's pretty quickly out-gunned by several cameras in this class.